Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle
The following information has been provided to p4A.com by Francois Grosjean, Professor Emeritus, Neuchetel University, Switzerland, a descendent of the artist:
Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle (1778 to 1865) was a Franco-English Victorian painter and portraitist, specialized in literary and historical subjects. For more than a 100 years, he was mistakenly given his son’s name, Henry Joseph Fradelle, who was trained as an artist but had several professions including clinic supervisor. This document, prepared by a direct descendant of Fradelle, first describes what most biographies state. It then explains how various pieces of evidence (the artist’s birth and death certificates, his correspondence and his will, inscriptions on his grave, as well as some of his drawings) all point to the erroneous biographical merge of father and son: the son’s name was used with the father’s birth and death dates and attributed to the father. Changes are now being sought in biographies and databases by the author of this document.
What the Literature States:
Ottley, H. (1877). A Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers. London: George Bell & Sons. “FRADELLE, HENRY, was born at Lille in 1778, and studied in Paris up to 1808, and afterward in Italy. In 1816 he fixed his residence in London, and exhibited with success at the British Institution and Royal Academy. “
Wood, C. (1978). The Dictionary of Victorian Painters. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors Club. 2nd Edition. “FRADELLE, HENRY JOSEPH c. 1778-1865. Painter of literary subject matter and scenes from plays. He also painted historical subjects. Exhib. Mainly at the BI, 1817-49, including ‘Ivanhoe’, ‘Raphael and La Fornarina’ and ‘Othello and Desdemona’. Also exhib. At the RA, 1817-1855. Born in France, he lived in London. “
Boase, F. (1965). Modern English Biography (1851-1900). London: Cassel. “FRADELLE HENRY JOSEPH, b. Lille, France, 1778; historical painter in London from 1816; exhibited 11 pictures at the Royal Academy, 36 at the British Institution, and 2 at the Suffolk Street Gallery, 1817-1854; d. 36, Weymouth St., Portland Place, London, 14 March 1865.”
Benezit, E. (1976). Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs. Paris: Editions Grund. “FRADEL, HENRI JOSEPH ou FRADELLE ou FREDEL Ne en 1778 a Lille. Mort le 14 mars 1865 a Londres. XIXe sircle. Francais. Peintre d’histoire, portraits, interieurs d’eglises. “
Thieme, U. and Becker, F. (1950). Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Kunstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. 37 v. “FRADELLE, HENRY JOSEPH, franzs. Historien- und Portratmaler, geb. In Lille 1778, + in London am 14.3.1865.
www.europeanpaintings.com“HENRY JOSEPH FRADELLE (Lille 1778 – 1865 London). Fradelle studied in Paris with Suvee and then in Italy. He settled in London in 1816 and exhibited there, at the Royal Academy and the British Institution, until 1855. During the ’30s he lived in Paris and exhibited at the Salon, where he won a third class medal in 1834. He specialized in subjects from British history, particularly as interpreted through the writings of Walter Scott, and his pictures, many of which were engraved, helped spread the interest in Scott and historical themes from England to France.”
In sum, for all biographers, there is just one painter, Henry Joseph Fradelle, born in Lille (France) in 1778, and who died in London in 1865.
The Facts:
There are in fact two Fradelles: the father, Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle (June 15, 1778 – March 14, 1865), and the son, Henry Joseph Fradelle (1805-December 21, 1872).
The evidence is as follows:
1. Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle’s birth record. An entry in the register of the Parish of Saint-Etienne in Lille, dated June 15, 1778, states that Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle was born and baptized on that day. He was the son of Joseph Guillaume Fradelle, a musician and native of Paris (Parish of St. Eustace) and of Adelaide Genevieve Valla, also a native of Paris (Parish of St. Severin).
2. Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle’s correspondence. In a letter written to a Mr. Ogle on September 29, 1833 (the original is at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA) he writes, “Je vous fais mes remerciements bien sinceres pour avoir bien voulu confier a mon fils l’execution d’une copie de mon Richard. Je ne doute pas qu’il s’en acquitte a votre satisfaction et je me ferai un vrai plaisir de retoucher ce que vous pourrez y trouver d’imparfait”. (My sincere thanks for having entrusted my son with the job of copying my Richard. I have no doubt that he will accomplish this to your satisfaction and it is with pleasure that I will touch up any imperfections you might find). Note that in 1833, Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire’s son, Henry Joseph, was 28 years old.
In a second letter written to Mr. Ogle (February 20, 1850), seventeen years later therefore, the father complains about the difficulties artists such as he are having and adds: “Mon pauvre fils a une peine infinie a se tirer d’affaire”. (My poor son has great difficulties making ends meets).
3. Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle’s will. Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle’s will, established on March 3, 1862, starts with the sentence, “This is the last Will and Testament of me, Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle, artist of 30 Gerrard Street, Soho Sq. in the County of Middlesex.” It continues with the following request: “I will ….. That all my just debts, funeral and testamentary expenses of proving this my will be paid by my oldest son, Henry Joseph Fradelle, of 36 Weymouth Street, Portland Place, my executor.” He then bequeaths his belongings (including many paintings) to several people among them “this said oldest son” as well as to his daughter, Caroline, and to his other son, Joseph Fradelle residing in Bordeaux in France. Later in his will he repeats that he appoints his son, Henry Joseph Fradelle, the executor of his will.
4. The father and the son’s death certificates. The extracts of the two death certificates obtained from the Certificate Services, General Register Office, Southport, Merseyside, England, clearly show that there were two artists: (a) Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle who died in London on March 14, 1865, at 36 Weymouth Street. He was 86 years old at the time and his occupation was listed as “An artist; historical painter”. The person present at his death was his son, Henry Joseph Fradelle, also of 36 Weymouth Street. Note that the son did not give his father’s exact first names; he added “Marie” after “Henri” and he did not give “Victoire”. He either did not know them all or, under the stress of the situation, made a mistake listing them. (b) Henry Joseph Fradelle who died in the district of St. Pancras (Middlesex) on December 21, 1872, at 61 Leverton Street. He was 67 years old and his occupation was listed as “Portrait painter”. It is based on this certificate that we can work out his date of birth to be 1805.
5. The Fradelle grave in London The Fradelle family has a grave in London’s Victorian Cemetery of Kensal Green. Of those buried in it, the cemetery register lists, among others, the father, Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle, and the son, Henry Joseph Fradelle.
6. Drawings by Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle in the Musee des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux (France). On one drawing, “Le joyeux frere dans ‘Richard Coeur de Lion’”, Joseph Fradelle, his other son who lived in Bordeaux (see the will) has handwritten the following note: “Le joyeux frere dans Richard Coeur de Lion de Walter Scott; offert a M. le Conseiller Bonie par le fils de l’auteur”. (The Happy Brother in Walter Scott’s Richard The Lion Heart; offered to Councillor Bonie by the son of the author). This must be the Richard that is mentioned in Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle’s letter to Mr. Ogle (September 29, 1833; see above) which his son, Henry Joseph, copied for him.
On a second drawing, “Deux amours musiciens”, Joseph Fradelle writes: “Etude faite par mon pere, peintre d’histoire (Angleterre)”. (Study done by my father, historical painter (England)). An on a third drawing, “Tete de jeune fille”, he writes “Etude faite par mon pa¨re, peintre d’histoire (Angleterre)”. (Study done by my father, historical painter (England)).
From all this we can conclude that there were indeed two Fradelles, the father, Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle, who is the better known of the two, and the son, Henry Joseph Fradelle. The latter probably arrived in England with his father in 1816 at age eleven and grew up bilingual but perhaps culturally more English than French (hence the “Henry” with a “y”). He trained as a painter but he did not live from his trade and was a clinic supervisor, among other things.
What early biographers seem to have done when erroneously listing just one artist, Henry Joseph Fradelle (1778-1865), is to take the name of the son, add the birth and death dates of the father, and assign both name and dates to Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle, the better established of the two. Later biographers simply reproduced the mistake!
Rectifying the error
The author of this piece has been active over the last three years informing the art world about this error in identity and attempting to rectify things. The Getty Union List of Artist Names has made the necessary modifications as have other databases. At the level of biographies, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has rewritten the Fradelle entry. This is the case also for the Thieme and Becker entry. Various museums and public galleries have been informed (The British Museum, The Courtauld Institute, The National Portrait Gallery, etc.) as have major auction houses. A survey of the web shows that the changes are starting to appear but the final change will take some time.
What remains to be done is to clearly identify the paintings and drawings by the father. The early ones (up to the 1830′s) are not a problem as his son was too young at the time but the portraits exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition or at the British Institution in the 1840′s and 1850′s may be more problematic. From what one knows, though, the very great majority of the works on record (if not all of them) are by Henri Jean-Baptiste Victoire Fradelle and not Henry Joseph Fradelle.